I am surprised that anybody in this forum questions the assertion that GCAA is subject to politics, conflicting relationships, influence and plain old-fashioned favouring of the home team. It happens at all levels - for a prime example, peruse the Prestige Jet thread which can be accessed at
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/45...d-threads.html
It is replete with numerous anecdotes from pilots, engineers and management personnel describing GCAA looking the other way or actively protecting the company in the face of serious violations which either GCAA should know if they are on the job and/or they refuse to do The Right Thing when a courageous employee comes forward with the evidence.
If it is going on over there to such extent, can you seriously believe that EK does not have even more wasta, with or without Sheikh Ahmed being at the top of both organisations? How many other countries would permit such a duality of the same powerful person participating at senior levels in both the regulator and regulatee, which provides an automatic egregious conflict of interest, from the get-go, especially when that person outranks every person in the land, save one?